Security and Sovereignty in the North Atlantic Small States, Middle Powers and their Maritime Interests

The North Atlantic continues to be an area of international strategic and geopolitical significance, both regionally and globally. This is largely due to the growing importance of the entire North in the global economy and world politics. Since the Cold War period, there has been a significant shift in its security architecture, from geo-strategy and military security to comprehensive 'soft' security and international cooperation. Furthermore, there are strong currents of devolution and processes of sovereignty. As a result, there are new, independent states, such as Iceland, with limited capabilities and growing responsibilities, and micro-proto-states with self-governance, for example Greenland. The North Atlantic region is also characterized by Nordic small states, including the Kingdom of Denmark, middle powers like Britain and superpowers, notably Russia and the USA, with their legacies and maritime and economic interests, as well as a supranational entity, the European Union, with its growing interests and emerging policies for and in the Arctic region.

Lassi Heininen is Professor at the University of Lapland, Finland. He is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Akureyri, Iceland and Trent University, Canada, and the leader of the Thematic Network on Geopolitics and Security. He is the author of more than 200 scientific publications and Editor of The Arctic Yearbook.

1.Introduction; Lassi Heininen and Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen
2. Managing devolution and withdrawal: Denmark and the North Atlantic 1800-2100; Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen
3. Icelandic security in a changing regional and geopolitical seascape: limited capabilities and growing responsibilities; Gustav Pétursson
4. Greenlandic Paradiplomatic Relations; Maria Ackrén
5. The USA in the Arctic: Superpower or Spectator?; Michael Corgan
6. Russian military strategies in the High North; Valery Konyshev and Professor Alexander Sergunin
7. The European Union's Arctic Strategy(ies): the Good and/or the Evil?; Sandra Maria Rodrigues Balão